Blog

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): Four Revenue Sources

Increasing commercial interest in Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) is being fed by (1) the selection of four PQC standards by NIST in 2022, together with (2) sped-up scenarios for quantum computers able to crack conventional encryption schemes. The PQC market is potentially huge.  Consider that, with an assist from a quantum computer, Shor’s algorithm can be used to break RSA encryption and that 50% of the ...

The Emerging Next-Gen Transceiver Market

There is always a next entrant in the next-gen transceiver market.  Typically, these reflect only an order of magnitude leap in data rate, with (1) much of the new transceiver technology derived from the previous generation of transceivers and (2) much of the motivation to build the transceivers in the first place to support rapid growth in network traffic. These two points remain true of ...

The Case for Near-Packaged Optics

Near-Packaged Optics (NPO) is concept that has emerged recently embodying many of the advantages of Co-packaged optics (CPO) but simpler to implement. We think that given that CPO technology is still at its earliest stages, we need a ramp up technology to get us to CPO. NPO uses a high-performance PCB substrate—an interposer—that sits on the host board.  By contrast, in CPO the modules surround ...

The Rise of Co-Packaged Optics and the (Gradual) Decline of Pluggables

Pluggable optical modules in the way we have known them are on their way out. Co-packaged Optics is garnering a great deal of attention and while it will largely displace/replace existing concept of pluggables, this won’t happen overnight. This article provides some perspective on the transition away from pluggable optics. Currently the pluggable market remains robust and showing no signs of dropping off. CPO has ...

5 Reasons Why the OIF Co-Packaged Optics Framework is Significant

While early 2021 was more dramatic in terms of new co-packaged optics (CPO) products, the past year proved to be the period in which CPO took its first baby steps towards the data communications mainstream.  Two important practical developments occurred. One, which we discuss in this article, is the OIF Co-Packaged Optics Framework.  The other is Near-Packaged Optics (CPO Light as it has been called), ...

The Need for CPO in the Latency-sensitive Data Center

Evolution of CPO in 2021 and Early 2022 Co-packaged optics (CPO) has emerged as technology of considerable interest as a platform for deploying optics in large data centers. A considerable segment of data communications sees CPO as a practical way forward to deploy 800G and above interfaces.  It is recognized by just about everybody in the industry that a monolithic optoelectronic chip with this capability ...

The Drivers and Timeframe for CPO Deployment

The demand for co-packaged optics (CPO) will be driven by many factors.  Today, latency-sensitive traffic such as AI and ML is getting a lot of attention.  However, this is mostly because AI and ML is new and exciting, while video is old hat.  Nonetheless, CIR believes that the video revolution is far from over and its bandwidth demands will sell a lot of CPO units ...

Co-packaged Optics Standards Moves CPO Forward

Co-packaged Optics standards activity have moved CPO from the realm of discussion closer to real-world adoption: (1) COBO has established a CPO working group. (2) CPO specifications have materialized in the form of the CPO Collaboration Joint Development Forum’s CPO Module product requirements document (PRD). And (3) there is an implementation agreement (IA) from the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF). These steps -- particularly OIF’s high-profile ...

What Makes Routers Edge Specific Routers?

The purpose of this article is to identify the several kinds of edge routers that are now appearing on the market. Edge-specific routers must be able to handle the functionalities described below with ease.  Edge routers can serve in a number of different functions and be of a number of different types. Edge routers are located at the demarcation point between the edge network and a ...

Edge Computing Processors

Excerpted from CIR's upcoming report on Edge Computing Processors. Although edge computing has seen a lot of developments in recent years, it is not a new concept. “Content delivery networks” or “content distribution networks” (CDNs) have been around a long time. CDNs work in the same way as edge computing—a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers, with the goal to provide ...

POET Takes Co-Packaging Beyond Communications Markets

One of main predictions of CIR’s 2020 report on co-packaged optics (CPO) is that next-generation switching chips is just the beginning for CPO.  We took the position that CPO is essentially a new way to opto-electronic integration and that novel switching technology is just a place to start. With $15 million in recent funding, POET Technologies, one of the companies mentioned in our report has ...

Opportunities in the Edge Computing Software Segment

The edge computing software segment is expected to be one of the most rapidly growing and diverse segments within the entire edge computing market and it includes platform, AI and analytics, as well as supporting segments such as DCIM and edge OS. The platform, AI and analytics segments are three of the largest within the edge computing software space and are also the fastest growing. ...

Broadcom, Cisco, Inphi and the Timing for Co-Packaged Optics: A CIR Research Note

In the past few months two important announcements have been made showing different ways forward for the Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) business.  One of these announcements came from a duo of Cisco and Inphi. It shows perhaps a certain amount of caution about CPO.  For various reasons, Broadcom is a tad more optimistic.  However, announcements from three such important and prestigious companies show a solid confidence ...

Five Companies to Watch in the Edge Computing Space

Participants in the edge computing market include tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Dell EMC, Cisco, HPE and Intel. However, we are also witnessing newer players coming into the market with innovative edge-focused offerings, that are attracting capital from both independent venture capital firms and the venture arms of the biggest players. CIR believes that there will be a growing number of new companies ...

Edge Computing Platforms will Shape the Next Datacom Revolution

In much the way that the past decade in datacom was defined by video applications, the next decade will be defined by smart systems – self-driving cars, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and AI (very smart systems).  At the infrastructure level, what CIR thinks this will mean is that the priority will be low latency; the video revolution has mostly been about raw bandwidth.  This trend is creating ...

Edge Computing Routers – A New Product Trend

Edge computing routers are an integral part of the edge computing infrastructure but have received less attention from major supplier who remain largely focused on traditional routers.  In many current implementations of edge computing, fairly standard routers are being use but we expect that this will change. Traditional and core routers are not intended to handle loads of data created by edge devices (IIoT devices).  ...

Equipment and Chip Opportunities Emerge from Edge Computing in 2021

Edge computing (EC) embodies an old and simple idea – siphon of traffic with special characteristics from the main network to a local network.  The primary network now has more capacity for general traffic while the local network can be designed specifically for the needs of local users.  The newer concepts of edge computing are expected to do the “compute” or analysis as close as ...

Co-Packaged Optics: Of Form Factors and Future Fights

Co-packaged optics (CPO) is flavor of the month right now; the question is, what kind of CPO?   There will surely be different form factors for data centers and telecommunications, and interconnects, sensors, and supercomputing. But there will also be different form factors proposed for CPO for within the data center. Based on recent presentations by leading firms, we already have some idea what these formats ...

Open Questions on Co-Packaging Standardization

The Co-Packaging Framework IA (Implementers Agreement) effort just announced by the OIF is a strong endorsement for co-packaging; a technology platform whose star is in the ascendant. Co-packaging was – as recently as two years ago -- considered a futuristic platform, but much attention has been brought to it as the hyperscale data center managers start thinking seriously about the optical engines that will take ...

Big Firms Back Co-Packaged Optics

Co-packaged optics is the ultimate direction for the long-touted “optical integration” meme. In theory, co-packaged optics wraps up active optics and active electronics wrapped to avoid the thermal/power inefficiencies inherent in conventional approaches to high-speed optoelectronics. A few years back when CIR investigated which technology platforms would take data centers into the 400/800G era, we were told pluggables would persist for a while, then would ...
Scroll to Top